Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

I'm finally back to exercising again.  Last spring (in preparation for my high school reunion) I finally got where I would do that 7-minute workout, but I'd do it like it was circuit training, so I'd do it three times (making it a 21-minute workout I guess?), and then try to do that three times a week.  I felt like that was a pretty good routine and I was happy with it all until school got out and all my kids were home all the time.

Then it was impossible.

It's kind of amazing watching what happens if I tell the kids to not bug me for 21 minutes.  They're starving.  They're fighting.  They're crawling over and under me (DO NOT CRAWL UNDER ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO DO WALL SITS!!!!).  They need me to open this.  They need me to go here or there with them.  Someone hurt their feelings.  They need a snack.  They want me to invite a friend over.  They want to go outside.  They need another snack.  They managed to touch my phone and pause it without me knowing so that I'm stuck doing what should be a 30 second circuit for 2-and-a-half minutes until I realize what's going on.  Someone punched them.  PLEASE DON'T SIT ON MOMMY WHILE SHE'S TRYING TO DO PUSH-UPS.  They managed to make a chair fall over on top of them and now they're screaming in agony....  And trust me, ALL OF THIS has happened during those 21 minutes.

And I try to be fairly even tempered, but when all this happens while I'm trying to do push ups, suddenly I'm just screaming at everyone.  BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH I CAN TAKE, OKAY???

Anyway, for everyone's sanity, I quit exercising during the summer.  And I had every intention of starting up again as soon as they were back in getting back in school, but then that didn't happen until...  January.  Oops?  (I guess I should thank Tracy for getting married and giving me a reason to finally set goals for myself and all that stuff.)


But now that I've built back up to being able to do it again, here are the things I like about exercising:

-I like that it warms me up.  In the winter time when I feel like I'm cold all the time, this is a really good thing.  I like not being freezing for a little bit of the day.

-I like that my body does pretty well with it.  I tend to improve very quickly and noticeably, and that makes me happy.  I'm very thankful for a healthy body that can do stuff like this.  In my book club last night one of my friends was talking about how society teaches women to hate their bodies and I know she's right, but I've never felt quite that bad about my body.  Sure-- I'm well aware when I should be trying to lose weight.  I'm not immune to this stuff.  But I've also usually been pretty happy with my body, flawed or not, and the many things it can do if I just try.  Exercise is a good reminder of that fact.

-It's a good excuse to play some perky music really loud for a bit.  I like loud music.

-I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I feel after exercising.  Even if I didn't do anything else all day, I at least did one thing that pretty much everyone agrees is a good thing to do.

But, I've learned a few important things, too...

-I have to exercise in the morning, before I shower.  Once I've showered, exercising is not gonna happen.  (I can't even tell you how many times I've thought, I'll just do it tonight!  Nope.  Never.  Don't even think it.)

-I do actually like to challenge myself by making things a tiny bit harder, like for example, I usually add weights to some of the exercises (like lunges or squats).  But I have to be really careful because it also makes things exponentially more challenging with kids around.  They're ability to walk into my swinging weight is matched only by how often they'll steal and then fight over my weights (or try to drop them on top of my phone) or other things that can have disastrous results.  Exercising with even just two kids around is NOT for the feint of heart.

-All this to say, I've started daydreaming about going running once they're all in school in a couple years.  That's pretty weird, coming from me, but I guess it's good to have some hobbies planned for when that day arrives...  right?